By: Maggie Cusack
If you could fit New York into one building, it would be McSorley’s.
New York screams glitz and glamor. Everything from Time Square to the ritziest martini bar proves why New York is called the Big Apple. It’s big, loud and it’s the “apple” of every aspiring actress, musician and businessman’s eye. That city gives you images of Sex and The City’s Carrie Bradshaw and musicians playing for dollars in Central Park. But if you go off the beaten path, a couple blocks away from the bright lights of Time Square, you will find a smaller New York.
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By: Paige Anderson
It often seems that the best food comes from the smallest, oddest, and most inconspicuous places; little hole in the wall places like my favorite Mexican restaurant which sports folding chairs and decade old piñatas hanging from the ceiling among lanterns made of old license plates. This Mexican restaurant though, is palatial real estate compared to Teresa’s. I call it Teresa’s because as far as I know it doesn’t have a name. It’s the kind of place you have to hear about from somebody, and then be lead there more than once to recall it’s elusive local. Maybe I shouldn’t even be talking about it.
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By: Jaime Marie
My friend Sharon and I wandered through the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto, Japan. As the name suggested, this area abounded with bamboo trees. These particular bamboo trees were rather tall, extending endlessly towards the heavens. They were thick for bamboo trees, and obviously sturdy, yet they were not immune to swaying in tune with the wind. The orchestra of rustling leaves combined with the shade from the height of the trees and created a peaceful feeling throughout the park, as if it were a sacred place. As we turned the bend of a winding path, we found ourselves before a small house with a beautifully sculpted garden. Works of art (paintings), framed and affixed on easels of varying heights, were interspersed throughout the garden. The art was surprising, but it seemed so natural in the setting that it was easy to imagine it had grown from magical art seeds and sprouted into masterpieces right there. We quickly realized this wonder was a tea house and decided it was time to stop for tea.
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FIVE REASONS IT'S HARD TO SETTLE BACK HOME ONCE YOU'VE LIVED ABROAD
By: Maggie Cusack
The good thing about home is that it never changes. You can leave for a day, week, or month and it would still be the same. The drapes in the house may have changed but the people often have not. That's why we love home so much, right? It's the memories and the comfort of our pasts.
The problem about coming home isn't that it's changed; it's that we have changed. This change can either be welcomed with open arms or it can be met with resistance. When I came home from Ireland five years ago, I was met with both. Living abroad is like a very long trip. People want to hear everything. Suddenly your life looks so exciting in comparison to theirs. And in a way it makes you feel more exciting. However,the novelty of being home fades. And suddenly you start comparing your life here to your life there. P.S. your life there always wins.
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By: Rachael Holliday
The first time I went overseas by myself, the only way I had to communicate with my loved ones back home was either by purchasing prepaid phone cards and calling them at arranged times from pay phones, or by writing them. The phone cards were tricky to use, and I remember being close to tears the first time I repeatedly failed to make a call, shivering in the cold from standing outside in the rain at a payphone, just wanting to hear a familiar voice.
Now there are many ways to communicate with people while traveling. Most cell phone providers offer international travel plans, and while these plans can save you money, they can still be pricey.
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